Eyes of a Child
by ESepticeye
Summary: A small girl appears near Avengers tower, hurt and mumbling of a certain trickster. After the group decides to take her in - the truth comes to light. Post Avengers AU where Loki escaped after New York. Focus on Natasha's softer side and dark Loki, both in relation to OC. Warnings: Gore, Torture
1. Chapter 1

Bruce had taken to long walks after the battle of New York, at first to help people who had been injured by the battle, people who had no money for medical services, or simply didn't trust the government after all that.. hell. He had needed some way to clear his guilt ridden mind and without the big guy all he had was his medical skills. His patient numbers had quickly diminished, however he never did stop those walks. Something about the eerie quiet of a city early in the morning calmed him. So he walked.

This particular morning, Bruce was out earlier then normal. The sun was barely over the horizon, casting shadows through the thick fog that enveloped the streets and muted his footsteps. He hesitated, something about that fog seemed unnatural.. Shaking the cobwebs from his head, he kept walking, trying to ignore his paranoia, after all, he had yet to run into anyone out this early.. Turning the corner to head back to the Avengers tower he barely heard the panicked beg of a girl sitting on the sidewalk. Beggars were normal, it was New York after all, but something about her voice made him stop and crouch down, his eyes going wide with what he saw.

The girl was barely recognisable as such, her head buried in the hood of an oversized sweatshirt, but the bruising on her face caught the fluorescent street light as she mumbled at him again. "Please.. help.." Bruce pulled out his phone and the girl panicked, struggling to her feet, "No. No police.. Avengers.. help.. protect.." She collapsed before she could get the rest of her explanation out and Bruce sighed, his good nature getting the better of him.

 _"Guess it won't hurt to let her rest up back at the tower.."_ he stooped down and picked up the girl, barely containing a shocked gasp as her hood slipped off her face. Her hair was nearly all gone, blisters and scabs covering her skull, the small amount of hair left matted with dried blood. Her face was covered in dozens of bruises, some fresh, most in various stages of healing. He hurried back to Avengers tower, carefully cradling the too-light girl in his arms, nervous to discover what other injuries lay beneath her ragged clothes.

She woke staring at a white ceiling, her body plastered in bandages, and realised she couldn't move her arm. Blinking again, she glanced down. " _A cast.. guess Loki got carried away with the injuries.."_ She half smiled to herself at the thought, as another sensation filled her mind, " _Shit.. the pain dampening spell is wearing off already.."_ She struggled to sit up, a door opening somewhere to the left of her.

"Please lay back down, I won't hurt you." The soft spoken voice of Bruce Banner filled her ears and she lowered herself back to the bed with a groan as the doctor walked into her sight. She had lucked out, originally the plan had been to go straight to Avengers tower, but that had risks, namely the automated system calling an ambulance before she could explain herself. On her way to the tower she had caught a glimpse of the kind doctor, from there it was a simple matter of draping her beaten body in his path. Banner was known for aiding the unfortunate after all.

"Hello? Can you hear me?" The doctor was speaking to her and she realized she must have spaced out. She nodded her head, wincing slightly at the motion. "You really should be in a hospital.."

Widening her eyes in feigned panic she violently shook her head, immediately regretting the decision as an involuntary groan escaped her lips. "No hospital.. not safe.."

A puzzled expression crossed Bruce's face and he paused, then asked her the question she had been anticipating, "Why isn't it safe? I can call the police to give you an escort if-"

"No police I want the Avengers, they beat him before so they'll save me from him right? They gotta mister.. please take me to them.. please.." Her voice trembled with practiced emotion, but Bruce fell for it as she knew he would, she doubted any of the Avengers -save Romanoff - could see through her act.

Bruce didn't like what the small girl was implying, but he knew he had to ask, "Loki? He did this?" The look on her face was enough of an answer, even before she managed to give him a scared nod. He breathed deeply, struggling to keep his composure lest the beast show himself. He couldn't believe it, yes the guy was manipulative and questionably evil at times, but to beat a child to near death.. he let the thought go, turning back to comfort the girl who had started crying, doing her best to stifle the sobs with her free arm.

"Okay, okay, you're okay. I'm Bruce Banner.. can you please tell me your name?"

"Ro-rosalie.. where are we..?" She looked around, finally calming down some after he had stopped mentioning police.

"Avengers tower, I work here and Tony added a whole slew of guest rooms and medical labs when he fixed it up so I figured.." he trailed off, Rosalie didn't need to know all that, "You'll be safe here, I promise."

"Avengers tower.. are they here? The Avengers?" Hope crossed the small girls broken face and he nodded, not surprised that she didn't realise he himself was an Avenger, after all the public mostly focused on the other guy.

"Tony's upstairs, asleep still, Cap and the others are out on missions right now though." He frowned slightly upon noticing how she winced as she breathed, "Are you in pain?"

"A little.. but I don't need anything for it.. I.. I need the pain.." she finished with a whisper.

Bruce sighed inwardly, Loki had really done a number on her, that's for sure. Knowing it was in her best interest he put a light sedative into her IV when she wasn't looking. He hated to go against his patients request but in her state she needed rest and that wouldn't happen with the amount of pain he could tell she was in. After Rosalie drifted into a deep sleep he headed upstairs.

"Jarvis? Is Tony up yet?"

"Yes, sir."

"You didn't tell him about the kid yet did you?"

"You asked me not to, sir" came the metallic reply.

Right, he had forgotten about that. He had assumed at first the kid had been mugged and wouldn't be staying long but.. with a certain trickster involved he knew she was right, no hospital would be safe if Loki decided he wanted her back.


	2. Chapter 2

"So you're telling me you found a kid half-dead on the street and brought her here?" Tony rubbed the bridge of his nose, it was too early for this. "And why couldn't you just call an ambulance like a normal person?"

"Loki-"

Just then, a very worn out Hawkeye stumbled into the kitchen where the two sat, making straight for the coffee pot, "What's this about our favourite psychopath?"

Tony about spat out his own coffee "He hurt a kid? God.." Bruce went to open his mouth again, but Tony waved his hand, turning to Clint "Tash' come back with you?"

"She should be around here somewhere.."

"Or behind you." All eyes turned to the corner of the room, none of them had heard her enter, "So what's this about Loki and a kid?"

Bruce sat down, he looked more stressed then normal, which was saying something. "I found Rosalie this morning, about a block out from here and barely conscious, she begged me to take her to see the Avengers, that it wasn't safe, before passing out on me.."

...

"She's asleep downstairs.." he finished lamely.

"So a beaten up kid approaches you on the street looking for the Avengers and you just take her word for it?" Nat asked, "I get wanting to help a kid, I do, but how do you know she wasn't mugged and just made the story up to meet us?"

"She has a point Bruce, we've had fans try to get in the tower before." Tony had heard enough, the last thing they needed was to babysit some fan who had a bad turn of luck, he felt for the kid, but life happened and they had more important things to deal with.

"Please.. just.. could you at least talk to her Nat? It's hard to explain but.. I just know she wasn't lying." Bruce twisted his hands together, and sighed in relief as she nodded curtly.

"Well that's settled then." Tony dumped an unhealthy amount of liquor into his already spiked coffee and downed it. "I'll pay for the best hospital care, okay Brucey?" Not waiting for an answer, he walked out, his mind already on other things.

"Sorry to interrupt you Miss Romanoff but Bruce wanted me to tell you the girl's awake."

"Thank you Jarvis." Natasha set down the report she had been filling out, grateful of the distraction.

...

"Please don't be too rough on her Nat.." Bruce fretted, he had been waiting nervously for her outside one of the many medical rooms.

"I won't." She responded curtly before entering the room.

A small, shriveled heap of a girl met her eyes, propped up on a few pillows, her skull wrapped in bandages, a cast on her right arm, and her face.. the bruising was extensive, and Nat was suddenly glad she had such a strong stomach. "He-hello?" God, her voice sounded as broken as she looked.

Natasha swallowed, but didn't let any emotion betray her thoughts as she sat next to her bed. "It's Rosalie, right? I've come to talk to you about what happened, okay?" A small nod, "Who did this to you?"

"Doctor Banner said.. said he'd tell you for me.."

"I need to hear it from you, okay? As much as you can remember." Natasha allowed a soft smile to enter her face "It's okay, you're safe here."

"He.. he did this.. said I wasn't behaving.. said.." the girl choked up, tears coming to her eyes.

"Who?" Nat let a small amount of sharpness slip into her voice, instantly regretting it as the girl flinched.

"Loki.. he... he did this.." more tears flowed across the girls face but Nat could tell she was hiding something, she just couldn't place a finger on what.

"Why would Loki hurt you? What were you doing near him in the first place?"

"He just.. appeared.. he was badly hurt so my mom decided to help him, we didn't realize who he was until it was too late.." Rosalie wiped her face with her unhindered hand. "After seeing on the news.. Mom tried to call the police.. but.. he.. he.."

Outside the room Bruce paced nervously, he hated leaving a patient in her condition alone and he had heard stifled crying earlier. After what seemed like an eternity Natasha walked back out, her face grim.

"She's not lying about Loki, but she is hiding something.. what I can't tell. I can't read her Bruce. One moment she's panicking and the next she seems like the answer was drilled into her head.. but she really seemed to believe what she had been saying.. it just makes no sense."

Natasha let out a sigh, and Bruce swallowed. If it was getting to Nat this badly, then something was truly wrong.

"Should we bring SHIELD in?" He asked, hoping she would say no, the girl had already been through enough.

"Not yet, you know how they are about anyone who they think has contact with Loki, and she is only a kid after all."

Bruce sighed in relief, "Well I better get back to her, I didn't have time for a full check up earl-"

A piercing scream stopped their conversation short and Natasha reached for her gun as she ran back to Rosalie, Bruce quick on her heels.


	3. Chapter 3

" _Fuck fuck fuck why didn't you numb the pain this time Loki you idiot?"_ Rosalie thought, faintly aware of Agent Romanoff and Doctor Banner running into the room at her screams.

" _You did want it convincing did you not?"_ Came the amused reply, his voice for her ears only " _I can numb it if you really need me to, but this spell already takes enough energy to maintain."_

" _Leave it then.."_ she opened her eyes, faintly aware that she was now on the floor.

"Help me lift her.." she felt two pairs of hands pick her up and set her back on the bed, pushing through the pain she let her eyes focus on Doctor Banner.

"Rosalie, can you hear me?" Bruce tried his best to keep the panic out of his voice as the girl drifted in and out of consciousness.

After an excruciatingly long few moments the dazed look slipped from her face and her eyes focused on him. "Hurts.." she moaned.

"Where?" She motioned to her stomach and he gently lifted her shirt, unable to contain a shocked gasp. Burned into her stomach with eerily precise lettering was one word - MINE. "How.. what happened?" Rosalie only moaned in pain again and he felt a cool hand silently press a syringe into his. He had almost forgotten that Natasha was in the room. Snapping back to reality he glanced down and quickly administered the sedative Nat had handed him.

...

With Rosalie's burns treated and her sound asleep Bruce finally allowed Nat to guide him to a chair, his entire body trembling. "How the hell.. I treated her myself.. I know those weren't there earlier.."

"Loki. It has to be." Natasha voiced what they were both thinking. "JARVIS, was there any activity in the room after Bruce and I left?"

"No one else entered or left the room, Rosalie simply started convulsing. My scanners could detect nothing"

Bruce put his head in his hands, he felt so damn helpless. "What are we going to do Nat? I can't just sit here and let her be tortured.."

"I.." for the first time since he'd known her, Natasha was as shocked as he was. "I suppose we should call the team in.. and transfer her upstairs where we can monitor her at all hours. She can stay in my room, I know it's secure. JARVIS please send a message through the encrypted channel, don't let SHIELD know of any of this."

"Right away."

Bruce stood up, his concern outweighing his panic - for now. "Stay with her while I fetch a gurney please.. we best move her while she's asleep, and JARVIS can you have Stark move the necessary equipment up?"

"Of course sir."

A/N: So this is my first fan fiction, I realize the chapter lengths are all over, so please cut a guy some slack. Reviews are appreciated :3


	4. Chapter 4

Natasha went into her room where Bruce sat next to Rosalie, clearly exhausted. "Bruce? How is she?"

"Alive." He sighed, staring worriedly at the small girl. "I had to put her in a medically induced coma.. somehow the burns on her stomach go through all the layers of skin and muscle and are dangerously close to vital organs.." The doctor sighed, his voice trembling.

"Well.. the rest of the team are upstairs and anxious as to all of the secrecy. I know Clint can hold his tongue, but Tony - well we should probably hurry." Noticing his hesitation she added, "JARVIS will tell us if there's any changes Bruce, there's nothing more you can do for her right now."

Bruce gave in and followed Natasha to the conference room. Swallowing down his rising anxiety, he walked in.

"So um.. you're probably wondering why the secrecy.. Well.. I.. um.." Bruce fumbled, looking to Natasha, "I found a lead on Loki."

"You found my brother?" Thor spoke up, only to be interrupted by Tony, "The kid wasn't lying?" Steve started to interject his own questions but the three fell silent as Natasha raised her own voice.

"Quiet."

"Right.. um.. so I found this girl.." Bruce fumbled over his words, "She was hurt.."

...

"She's in Natashas room now.. after the incident downstairs we agreed it's better if she's closer to one of us at all times.." Bruce trailed off, the screen behind him showing silent video feed of the burning incident.

The group stood shell shocked for a moment before a loud crash of thunder, followed by an equally loud growl brought them to their senses. "A child. I thought my brother may yet be redeemable but to harm a child, no, that is going too far!"

"Thor.." Natasha stepped towards him slowly, "You need to calm down."

"No." They all turned to look at Clint, who normally stayed quiet in meetings such as these, "Thor's right, Loki's crossed a line. Who targets a kid?" There was a certain edge to his voice that only Natasha understood, and he stormed out of the room, Thor close behind him.

Tony cleared his throat "So.. don't know what's gotten into those two but aren't we still as clueless as before? Sure the kid met Loki, that much is clear." He purposely sat so he didn't have to face the image of the broken girl on the screen, trying to calm his own mind. "But she's in a coma, and even if she wakes-" "When" interjected Bruce, "right, I doubt Loki would have been careless enough to leave her with any memories of where he was keeping her."

"We still have to help her Tony! She's barely hanging on for her life, we can't be bickering over how _helpful_ she'll be when she wakes up! Anyways, it's the first sign we've had that he's still on Earth, and that if nothing else is better than what we had before!" Bruce's voice shook, his vision blurring green slightly before Nats cool hand was placed warningly on his shoulder.

"Captain?" She interjected, knowing Bruce and Tony would be at each other's throats at this rate, "You've been pretty quiet over there."

"I hate to bring this up but, shouldn't SHIELD be handling this instead of us? I feel for the kid, we all do, but why the secrecy? We should be relaying this information to Fury, they have the medical personal to care for her and-"

"Out of the question." Surprisingly it was Natasha who shot him down, "I know SHIELD. They may help her at first but as soon as she's healed she'll be in prison there, with agents questioning her around the clock, and in her state.." A brief flicker of concern flickered across her normally controlled features, "She's more likely to talk to us, and she came to us for help. We will help her." With that Nat turned and walked out.

"Well guess we're getting a house guest then." Tony shrugged nonchalantly before snapping at JARVIS, "take that damned video down already."

Knowing when he was beat, the Captain left, thunder still booming outside.


	5. Chapter 5

After forcing Bruce to go lie down, Natasha made her way back to her room, surprised to find the door cracked. JARVIS hadn't alerted her to any intruders, but it was Loki who they were facing after all. Not taking any chances, she out her gun, flicking the safety off.

She silently entered the darkened room, seeing a man on the floor next to Rosalie's bed and tackled him without second thought.

"Jesus Christ Nat! Don't shoot, don't shoot!" Clint looked up at her, eyes wide and she sighed hopping up and putting the weapon away.

"What the hell are you doing lurking in the dark? I could've killed you." Nat sat in the chair as Clint leaned back up against the bed.

"Figured.. she could use the company.. I know if it were my kids I wouldn't want them all alone after something like that, ya know?" His voice cracked slightly and she realised instantly why the lights were off. He had been crying.

"Your family's safe Clint, Loki doesn't even know they exist. We've been over this."

"I know I never _said_ anything about them because it wasn't relevant at the time but.. he was in my head 'Tash.. what if he saw something.."

She shook her head firmly "No, and even if he had, they're far away from where you used to live, no one except Fury and the two of us know the location, they're safe."

"You're right.. as always.." he muttered, still unhappy with the situation. "Do you think Rosalie will be okay? I mean.. Loki messing with my head was bad enough.. I can't even imagine.."

"Bruce said she should recover enough to wake in a few days.." She sighed, and unconsciously placed her hand over the girl's. "And I will be here when she wakes."

"If he.."

"Don't Clint, just.. don't." They sat in silence for a few moments, both thinking dark thoughts, before she finally spoke again. "You should go home for a few days."

"But-"

"Go. I'll cover for you." So he went.

 **A/N:** I know this chapter is really short, but I felt like the fluff deserved a separate chapter :3


	6. Chapter 6

_She was floating, drifting, her mind was a piece of driftwood floating on an infinite ocean.._

 _"Rosalie. Snap out of it. Now."_

 _"Where.. Loki..?" She couldn't feel her body, she couldn't feel anything. She didn't want to feel anything._

 _"I said snap out of it!" Loki's sharp voice pierced her wandering consciousness._

 _"Loki? Where am I?"_

 _"It appears the mortals thought it wise to put you in a coma. I can't assist the healing when you're in this state however."_

 _"How do I break out? Our plan won't work if I'm bedridden."_

 _"My plan." Loki corrected. "I need you to brace yourself."_

 _"Brace myself? For what?"_

 _"THIS."_

"Sir, it appears that Miss Rosalie is awakening" JARVIS's cool voice permeated the room.

"Wait, already?" Bruce hurried to his feet, running down the hall to where, sure enough, Rosalie's monitors were going haywire as she choked on her breathing tube.

 _"Shit.. shit.. shit.."_ He held her down and pulled the tube out as carefully as possible, given the situation. Rosalie started coughing and blurrily opened her eyes. "Rosalie? Just focus on me, okay? You're okay." He said the words as much for her as for himself.

"Bruce?" A soft knock at the door marked Nat's appearance, "JARVIS said Rosalie woke up on her own?"

He nodded and motioned for Nat to join him. "Rosalie?" The girl said nothing, just staring at them. "I'm going to examine your injuries again now, okay?"

She nodded slowly and Nat turned to leave, a soft voice stopping her in her tracks. "Please.. could you stay?" Rosalie looked at the assassin with a scared look on her face, one Nat knew all too well.

She smiled softly and walked back over, taking the girls hand as Bruce redressed her wounds, hope filling the silence in the room.

Natasha sat holding Rosalie's hand for what felt like ages, granted she did have better things to do, but the girl intrigued her. She had been nearly impossible to read at first, and Natasha could read everybody, even Loki himself. Now, well, it's hard to read somebody who's entire world was currently consistent of pain and fear, it's one of the reasons she hated traditional torture so much. People will say anything to make the pain stop.

"Nat?"

She glanced up at Bruce, the smile she had been holding for the kids' sake fading as soon as her head was turned. "Hm?"

"I hate to ask but.. um.. think you could sit with her for a bit, you know..? I need to.. um.."

"Sure." She could tell what Bruce was getting at, they needed more information on Loki, and he was too polite to say so outright. "You had that project with Tony, remember?"

Bruce masked his slight confusion fairly well and hastily took off, leaving her and the kid alone.

"You don't have to pretend to like me.." Rosalie said, but she didn't move her hand from Nat's.

"Do you remember what happened?"

"I um.. was resting.. then.. I heard Him and.."

"Loki. His name is Loki, Rosalie. Don't give that bastard any more power then he already has, it's just a name." Nat was growing impatient, yes she appeared to be barely 14 but still.. Nat didn't appreciate being played. She pulled her hand away and the girl swallowed.

"Right.. Loki.. I heard him in my head then everything was on fire.. I was on the floor.. Doctor Banner was talking.. I don't remember much past that.." Her voice trembled, but it wasn't with fear over the memories, no, was she nervous?

"What did he say? Do you remember?"

"You'll never escape." She teared up, but something was off, if only she could place her finger on it-

A knock at the door interrupted her train of thought and she turned to see a rather annoyed Tony.

"Banner said I should come and introduce myself sometime.. so um.. here I am." He walked over to the two, keeping his eyes anywhere but the injured girl. " You comfortable enough?"

Rosalie nodded, and Natasha couldn't help to smile inwardly at how damned uncomfortable Tony looked.

"We were kinda in the middle of something Stark." She decided to play nice and give him an out, she wouldn't get any answers out of Rosalie with him pacing around anyways.

"Right. Um. Tell JARVIS if you need anything." He hurried back out the way he came and Natasha turned back to Rosalie.

"So.. you were telling me what Loki said to you before those injures appeared? "

"I told you.. he just said 'You'll never escape'.. then there was just.. so much pain.." Rosalie let her voice trail off, trying to suppress her growing panic.

"Are you sure that's it?" Nat looked into her eyes with such intensity she couldn't help but look down, nodding. "You're probably hungry, I'll go see if I can't scrounge up something for us, okay?"

"O-okay?" She blinked at the sudden change of attitude and watched the black figure retreat out the door before sinking back into her pillow with a sigh. She knew the assassin would return with more questions that she couldn't answer, so she did the only thing she could do- she closed her eyes and called for Loki.

 _"Loki? Loki are you there?"_

 _"What is it."_ Came the annoyed reply, " _I already helped you once today, can you not handle this?"_

 _"Its Romanoff, she's onto me, she knows I'm hiding something I can tell."_ her panic spread through the communication like a weed, a side effect of using mental communication. _"What am I supposed to do, we knew she would question me but this is too soon I haven't had the chance to get the other Avengers on my side yet."_

 _"Open your mind to me so I can hear and see what you do."_

 _"But-"_

 _"Now. Or I'll force my way in, and we both know you don't want that."_

Giving into the tricksters demands, Rosalie opened her eyes, wincing as their minds drew closer then she had ever let him before.

 **A/N:** Chapters will be released once a day after this, ya' boy can't keep up with all this writing sowwy


	7. Chapter 7

Something was off. She could tell the moment she came back into the room, what was it.. The heart monitor. It was too steady, as if Rosalie were in a deep sleep, but there she sat, awake and propped up, her face slightly pained.

"I brought you some soup and water, Banner said only liquids for today." She set the tray on the table by the bed and took a seat.

"Thank you.." Rosalie reached over and picked the tray up with one hand, wincing, but not as much as she should have been with her injuries. She had only been gone 15 minutes and it was as if it were a completely different person sat before her.

"How are you feeling?"

"Better, Dr. Banner gave me some pain medication." She set the tray down and started slurping up the soup. Nat frowned to herself, she hadn't passed Banner on her way back, but it was possible she missed him. She made a note to ask him about it later.

Turning back to the matter at hand, she looked at Rosalie. "Is it okay if I ask a few more questions?" At her hesitant nod she continued, "How did you meet Loki?"

"He was injured.. my mom's a nurse, she was helping people after the invasion, mostly scraped knees, a couple stitches here or there. I helped too as much as I could at the time. He showed up, badly beat up. TV and phones were still down so we didn't know.. until it was too late.." Rosalie trailed off, emotion catching in her throat. Nat nodded for her to continue and she swallowed, "He refused to go to a hospital.. but then mom started acting strangely. She said we needed to bring him home, protect him.. I tried to tell him we didn't have room but he said it wouldn't be an issue, and then.. suddenly I wanted to protect him too, more than I've ever wanted anything in my life.. So we took him home.. and.. and.. he killed my dad and my.. my baby sister.. I couldn't stop him.. I didn't want to stop him.."

Tears flowed down her cheeks as Rosalie trailed off again. Nat placed her hand over hers, "Take your time." She smiled softly, easily masking her growing concern. Normally during a story like that, even on medication, there would be some fluctuation in a person's heartbeat. But the monitor remained as consistent and slow as ever. "Rosalie?"

"Hm?"

"You said earlier that he killed your mother as well, right?"

Rosalie nodded, still teary eyed. "After he had recovered enough.. he said he didn't need.. need her anymore."

"You never said anything about him killing her before now." She caught a glimpse of annoyance in the girls eyes and drew her gun without second thought. Unfortunately, Bruce happened to enter just then, his eyes widening as he dropped the tray of medical supplies he had been carrying and rushed forward.

"Natasha what the hell put the gun down!"

"It's not Rosalie." She flicked off the safety, aiming it at the girls head. "Is it?"

 _"She's going to shoot me, do something!"_ _"She won't." Loki's cool voice filled every crevice of her mind, doing little to calm her growing panic._ _"How can you know? What if she thinks killing me will hurt you? She might-"_ _"Quiet. I wasn't expecting her to discover me so soon either, but we can use this to our advantage. Now shut up."_

Focusing back on the situation at hand, Loki watched through Rosalie's eyes as Bruce continued to try to talk Natasha down. He let out a grin, then started to laugh. All eyes went on Rosalie as his laughter poured out of her lips. "I'm impressed Natasha. How you could have known I wasn't watching earlier is beyond me though. What if you had been wrong?" He turned Rosalie's head, leaning towards the gun.

"Loki." Natasha's voice spat contempt. "Let the girl go." She pulled the gun back out of his reach, keeping it trained on her head.

"Nat.." Bruce's eyes flashed green, and she wordlessly motioned for him to leave. He ran out of the room as Loki cackled after him.

"So what are you going to do to me?" He raised an eyebrow, an impish grin plastered unsettlingly on Rosalie's face. "She thinks you're going to shoot is us. Quite a fighter this one." He tapped the side of her head, smirking.

"How are you controlling her? You no longer have the staff or the tesseract." Natasha's face remained calm, but he could sense rage in her eyes.

"This is killing you, is it not? Being so close yet so far. You can't touch me without hurting her. And these mortal bodies.. they break so easily." He grinned again, grabbing at the spoon from her soup, but Natasha dropped the gun and took it out of his reach. "You're no fun. Still trying to clear all that red, I see."

"Why a child?" Her voice trembled with emotion, "Why did you have to have to choose an innocent child?"

"Because children are so easy to break." He stated it matter-of-fact, grinning as Natasha's calm facade crumbled. "I barely had to touch her, you should have heard the way she begged." He slipped back into Rosalie's voice, "Please, please take me don't kill them, I'll do any-"

Natasha slapped him across the face, half to shock Rosalie awake, half to shut him up. Rosalie fell back against the pillows, her eyes tearing up. "Rosalie?"

"Nat.." She burst into tears, burying her face in her hands as Loki had told her to.

"Its okay, he's gone. He's gone." Nat gently rubbed her back, cursing herself silently for letting her anger get ahold of her.

"You.. weren't going to shoot me were you?" She sniffed, looking up at the woman comforting her.

"No, no of course not. It was just to keep him from making you get up. That's all." Rosalie wiped her eyes and looked down at her lap, her entire body trembling. Sure she had consented, but.. having Loki take over not only her body but her mind so completely.. She shuddered, suddenly doubting him for the first time. That cold indifference, he had been prepared to kill her to get to Natasha and that terrified her.


	8. Chapter 8

A few weeks passed, a tense atmosphere enveloping the tower. Rosalie spent the majority of her time asleep, though the rest was anything but easy. Natasha hadn't pressed for any more answers, instead just sitting guard by her bedside whenever she had a free moment, Bruce guarding her the rest of the time. Her injuries were healing steadily, and the doctor had said she'd be up out of bed within a month at this rate.

Despite how well she was recovering, one factor loomed tensely over all their heads; Loki. After the talk with Nat, he had been eerily quiet, not a peep of communication, or even the occasional probe with magic. She knew he was still watching, his presence hadn't faded from her mind, but.. it was unsettling and not just for her.

She had heard snippets of movement and conversation from around the tower, enough to gather that the majority of the team had been looking for him non-stop, and had found jack squat. Rosalie sighed, glancing over to where Nat had fallen asleep in the chair by her bedside, a common sight most days. Deciding now was as good a time as any, she focused her mind on Loki's presence and called out to him.

" _Loki? I know you're there.. why haven't you said anything?"_

 _Silence._

" _Loki answer me!"_

 _Silence._

 _Twisting a sarcastic tone around her thoughts, well as much as she could, she tried a different tactic, "Oh great god of mischief, Loki Silvertounge, I implore you-"_

" _What is it you infernal pest? I've better things to do then answer your every whim." His reply was curt, his annoyance snaking into her brain._

" _You disappeared after that conversation with Natasha.. I just thought you'd-"_

" _I'd what?" His ever-icy reply cut off her thought, "There was no need to say anymore, after that display you should have the Avengers eating out of your hand, I have better things to attend to. Speaking of, it seems you've made no progress inacting my plan, are you planning on waiting an eternity? Or perhaps you've gotten comfortable with your new lifestyle, being waited on hand and foot."_

 _Rosalie couldn't hide her anger as she shot back a reply, "Progress? How am I to make progress when I can barely sit up on my own thanks to your control issues! I've no choice but sit here and heal, it's not as if you've given me many options here!"_

" _No choice? No choice? You've had enough time, you're just too weak-willed to act because you're frightened of more pain- I'll show you no choice!"_

Rosalie felt his mind enveloping her own, her eyes flying wide, "No wait-!"

—

Natasha quickly sprung awake at Rosalie's cry, her hand automatically on her weapon as she looked at the girl with concern. "Rosalie? You okay?"

"Fine.." came the shaky reply, as she wiped a hair out of her face, taking a deep breath. "Bad dream.."

Nat slowly released her weapon, glancing at heart monitor to make sure nothing was awry. Her heart rate was high, but was dropping back down to normal at a fairly steady pace, normal of someone who had awoken suddenly. She let out the breath she hadn't realized she was holding, gently placing her hands over the girls. "Want to talk about it?"

"Not.. not really.." Rosalie looked down, "Sorry.. wish I could be more help.."

"You're okay sweetie, you doing your best to recover is all anyone can ask of you." She spoke soothingly, but couldn't help but wonder what the dream was about. It wasn't uncommon for her to mumble or wake suddenly in the night, but this was the first time something like this had happened. She decided she'd try to ask her in the morning, knowing pushing right now would just drive the girl away. "Can I get you anything? Or do you just want to try to get some more rest?"

"Maybe some water.. and.. think you could sneak another pop tart for me?"

Nat smiled at the innocent reply, "Sure, Thor doesn't need them anyways. Just let Jarvis know if you need anything while I'm out, okay?" Rosalie nodded, and Nat headed for the kitchen, one floor up.

—

Loki watched Natasha leave, waiting until her footsteps had faded completely. He knew they had a mechanical system watching Rosalie, but he didn't pay it any heed. Working quickly, he unhooked the girl from the various monitors, forcing her body out of bed.

" _LOKI STOP! You're just furthering the damage, my body will give out!"_

Rosalie's panicked thoughts prickled the back of his mind, but he paid her no heed, dropping the block he had put up against pain to her section of the brain and letting her drown. As alarms started to blare, he quickly moved her body out of the room, annoyed with how slow and clumsy it was. If he was a bit closer, he could use magic to enhance the body's movements, but at this distance all he could manage was a crude puppetry.

As the impudent girl hadn't yet figured out what floor the tesseract was on, he paused, sending out a probe from her body. Three flights up. Great. He took off again, looking for a staircase. He knew there was the motorized elevator, but as this entire building appeared self aware he didn't want to take any risks. Rounding a corner, he briefly lost control as her body smashed into something- no, someone.

"Rosalie?! What are you doing out of bed, you're in no condition to be walking!" Craning his puppets neck up he made out the face of Banner, grinning at his sheer luck. This could prove very opportune indeed.

"Hello again. I do wish we could have a nice, long chat, but I'm afraid I've other engagements at the moment." Loki allowed his voice to pour out of Rosalie's lips, using Banner's brief distraction to grab his arm and send a probe of magic into him, feeding him a small dose of Rosalie's pain. As the man staggered backwards, struggling to stay, well, a man, he ran off in the opposite direction.

Soon enough, he heard the beast's roars and chuckled to himself, finally sighting upon the stairs. Throwing the door open, he started climbing, the sound of alarms and rage creating a beautiful medley by which to run.

A/N: Sorry for the long hiatus, hope yall enjoy this juicy cliffhanger.


	9. Chapter 9

Natasha stifled a yawn as she made her way up to the kitchen, unsurprised to see Tony scrounging in the fridge, despite the early hour. "Have you even been to bed yet?" She asked, watching the man jump out of his skin.

"Haven't I told you not to sneak up on me!" Tony snapped, turning to face her, his dark circles speaking for themselves . "Weren't you on kid-duty tonight?"

"She had a nightmare and wanted a pop tart." Nat explained, grabbing a glass to fill with water. "We haven't had any movement in the past two weeks, figured it wasn't worth waking anyone for - shoulda figured you'd still be up." She added with a sly smirk.

"I'm so close to cracking-"

Tony cut off as a loud alarm blared throughout the tower and Jarvis's voice came out of the speakers; "Rosalie's out of bed, I've sounded the alarm to wake everyone as you asked of me."

Nat let the glass slip out of her hand, crashing to the floor. "Goddamned it! I shoulda never left her! Jarvis is she acting in pain, anything odd?" She asked as she ran for the elevator, weapons already in hand.

"Her movements are jerky, but show no pain." Came the cool reply, as Tony ran after Nat.

"Jeeze wait for me! Jarvis prepare my suit just in case!" He yelled, barely making it onto the elevator before Nat closed it.

"Right away, sir."

The ride down was riddled with tension, the loud alarms echoing. As the two exited the elevator, an all too familiar roar shook the floor. "Don't tell me.."

"Yeah. He got to Bruce." Nat replied curtly. "I'll handle him, you find Rosalie and get her back in bed, ASAP. Jarvis can you please cut the alarms."

Tony nodded, glad to have a clear objective. He normally preferred to call his own shots, but knew in situations like this it was best to defer to Nat's experience. Locking onto the girl's location with JARVIS, he equipped his suit and took off after her.

Loki made it up nearly two flights, coming to a stop as the Iron Man flew past him and blocked his path. "That's far enough. You shouldn't be out of bed." From the tone of Tony's voice, it was clear he assumed he was the one in control.

Allowing fear to spread onto the girls face, he used her voice to feign panic. "I.. I.. can't stop.." he took another step forward, causing his puppet to jerk as if she was fighting back. "Please.." Another step.

Tony revealed his face, his confliction evident. "Look um.. I'm gonna grab you okay? I'll have to sedate you.. that should make it so no one can move you.."

Loki nearly broke face, overjoyed with how easily he had played into his hands. Dropping his sleeve down, he slipped the knife he had grabbed on his way into his hand and raised it to her neck, making her eyes widen with fear all the while. The knife may have been a touch on the dull side, but the message came off clear enough. "Wait.." he stammered, deciding to add some tears for theatrics and he edged closer, "No.. he.. please.." he cut the impersonation off and allowed her face to go blank. "Suit off and out of the way, we both know you can't move fast enough without one of us hurting her, and that would be a pity. I prefer my puppets alive, after all."

He grinned as Tony grit his teeth. "You're a sick bastard, using a kid for a puppet. You know that right." He pressed the knife into her neck, tilting his head to the side. "ALL RIGHT ALL RIGHT FINE!" The man raised his hands up and stepped out of the suit, obviously fuming.

"Face the wall." The man obeyed, and Loki climbed past him, keeping his focus on Tony's back as he edged past the suit of armor.

"NOW JARVIS!" Loki spun around, but not quickly enough, the suit of armor knocking the knife out of his hand and forcing his puppet to a stand still. He spat obscenities at the man as he approached, but the girls body was too weak to escape the grip and soon he felt his hold slipping as powerful tranquilizers were injected into her.

"You'll pay for this Stark!" He spat, before the connection severed.

A few hours later, Rosalie woke groggily, her mind hazy from the drugs. She tried to sit up, but found that she couldn't. Looking down at her body, she realized that she was back in bed, this time with padded restraints holding her down. "What.."

"We weren't sure who was gonna be there when you woke up.." Natasha's voice washed over her and she turned to see the woman looking at her with a mixture of concern and scrutiny.

The memories of what had happened washed over her, the argument, then suddenly.. pain. There had been a brief break, and her eyes went wide as she remembered why, "Doctor Bruce! Is he okay?!"

"He's just fine, he's resting, don't worry." Nat soothed, the relief obvious on her face. "I'm glad you're back. I'm going to take those off, but no sitting up just yet, okay? You reopened a lot of wounds." Rosalie nodded and lay still as Nat unhooked the restraints. "What all do you remember?"

"I was laying in bed.. I.." she swallowed knowing Loki was watching. "He was angry with me.. Yelling in my mind.. then suddenly he took over before I could fight him off.. told you to go get me water.. I tried to fight but.. but.. the pain.." She trailed off, not having to fake any of this interaction for once. She had been having her doubts about his plans, sure, but.. to do that, after all he had promised.. still.. now wasn't the time, not when his presence was so strong in her mind. Even thinking her doubts would no doubt enrage him, so she got back to retelling what had happened. "I briefly felt it disappear and saw Doctor Bruce look injured.. then it came back.. and I woke up here."

"You're safe now, I won't let him take over again, okay?" Nat smiled warmly at the girl, gently laying her hand on Rosalies. There was no hesitation in her voice this time, yet she seemed more unsure of what she was saying then ever. It was as if she were seeing the girl's true face for the first time and what she saw was mystifying.

"Okay.." She sunk back into her pillow, staring at the ceiling in a daze broken only by the occasional flare of pain.

Natasha stepped into the hallway, gently closing the door behind her. Rosalie had finally fallen asleep, and she had paged Bruce and Tony, both were waiting outside for her.

"News?" Tony asked, only to be interrupted by Bruce.

"Is she doing better? Should we call the rest of the team back?"

"She's shaken up, but back asleep. Something did happen though. While we were talking.." Nat trailed off, unsure of how to explain, "It's the first conversation I've had where she didn't sound completely guarded.. but she seems more scared than ever. I just can't get a read on her."

"She's a kid." Tony stated, "I mean, I know you're the best of the best, but even you would be shaken up after that."

Bruce nodded, "She'll open up when she's ready.. we just gotta keep her safe till then."

"I know, I know." Nat sighed, rubbing the back of her head. "Her safety comes first. Until we figure this out we're going to have to monitor her 24/7, in shifts. She's not to be left alone, not even to fetch a glass of water. I'll take first shift, Bartons on his way back." She stated matter-of-factly, not leaving room for argument. "One of you get a hold of Cap, will you?"

"What about Thor?" Tony piped up, the annoyance on his face at being given orders quite clear.

"Too risky." Bruce answered for Nat, who nodded in agreement. "Loki takes over he's liable to get carried away."

"JARVIS notify Cap on the encrypted channel." Tony paused as the robot replied,

"Well. If that's all for now." Nat nodded and headed back into Rosalie's room, happy to find her still sound asleep. Bruce followed her in, busying himself with checking her scans and vitals as Nat sank back into the chair by her side.

"Bruce?"

"Hm?"

"Do you think there's a medication that could break his hold? We know he loses control when she's fully unconscious, which means her mind has to be conscious for him to control her. So if there was some way to simulate that, without having to have her actually be unconscious.. maybe he wouldn't be able to take over." She hypothesized, more as a wild theory than anything plausible, but if anyone could do it it would be Bruce.

"A medication that simulates unconsciousness without the patient being unconscious… its plausible, but.. hmm.. you'd have to get just the right balance to keep her aware but also to slow the processes of the.. I need to run this by Tony!" An idea spread across his face in an all too familiar expression and he ran out of the room, leaving Nat and Rosalie alone together yet again. Nat sighed, hoping she hadn't sent Bruce on a goose chase. Settling down, she prepared to wait the night out, her hand resting lightly over the girls.

—

" _Rosalie.. Rosalie.. It's time to wake up.."_

She yawned, opening her eyes, looking around to see the lights had been dimmed and Natasha was sound asleep. "I could've sworn.. wait.."

" _Loki?"_

" _About time you woke up, I didn't want to force you awake for risk of wakening that pesky woman. Anyhow, we need to talk."_ His voice drifted through her mind like cool water, but the flow was hard to interpret with her mind still groggy. That didn't stop the would-be god, however, who continued to speak, " _Obviously that impromptu plan didn't go particularly to plan, but we can still twist it to our favour. As I was in control, they've nothing to go off but the direction I was headed, therefore we've still a shot at grabbing the tesseract. Be ready in two days, I'll be healing you remotely, but you've got to keep up the act of pain until then."_

" _I.."_ Rosalie's mind swirled, trying to process what he had said, " _Two days? Isn't that awfully sudden..?"_

" _I need the tesseract sooner than expected, we don't have time for you to heal with mortal medicine and infiltrate slowly. You_ can _do this right?"_ A sharp dagger of pain accompanied Loki's words and Rosalie winced in spite of herself.

" _I.. yes of course. I'll be ready."_ She agreed hastily, and nearly groaned aloud in relief as he pulled his connection back to the far reaches of her mind, ending their conversation.

Rosalie stared at the ceiling, watching the city lights flicker patterns across the white expanse. She knew Loki had his reasons, despite how private the man had been during her stay with him, she knew there were external forces at work. Still.. The doubts that had been plaguing her mind ever since she had left his side were all but screaming at her to just get out while she still could. As if she could.. she knew she was too far in it to back out now. Even if by some miracle the team of self made heroes could sever her tie to Loki and hide her away, he was practically immortal, and had magic at his beck and call. She would never be able to live a normal life again, he had made sure of that. Knowing brooding would do her little good, she closed her eyes and let herself be embraced by sleep once more.


End file.
